After Advent Children
by Adolis
Summary: What I think would happen after Advent Children. This isn't a shotgun-wedding type story. Considering Cloud and Tifa's awkwardness, their friends decide to help them along the path to becoming a couple, but awkwardness turns into stubbornness and things start to fly. Plus the world can't seem to leave this group alone. Hope you enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

1

"CLOUD! GITCHUR ASS OVER HERE!"

Cloud nearly jumped out of his skin and looked, startled, over at Cid, Barret, Cait Sith, and Vincent. Cid was now waving his arm in a *cough*subtle* attempt to get Cloud's attention. Vincent sighed but didn't look all too surprised.

"What?" Cloud walked over to the pilot and raised an eyebrow.

Cid and Barret dragged Cloud outside of the slums church, away from the confused eyes of Tifa, Yuffie, and all of the children newly cured of Geostigma.

"What do you want?" Cloud asked after staring at the rest of the group upon their arrival outside, he felt as confused as everybody left inside, and slightly ticked at being dragged around.

"So, are you gonna finally get the guts to hook up with Tifa or not?" Cid replied bluntly.

"You don't get movin' soon, some else'll nab her!" Barret warned.

"Oi, he's right!" Cait Sith piped in.

Cloud was too shocked to say anything, but he turned pink and tried to leave, which in turn caused all but Vincent to jump and attempt to pin him to the ground.

All of them (Cait Sith's Moogle included) had forced Cloud to a knee when Tifa and Yuffie emerged from the ruined church. Vincent took a step back from the scene as if saying he had naught to do with this.

"Get_ off_ of me," Cloud broadsided Cait Sith and the Moogle with his sword then swiveled and ended up on his feet with Cid and Barret at a healthy 5 foot's distance.

Tifa put a hand on her hip and gestured towards the scene. Then with a laugh, "Um, what exactly is going on here?"

"Yeah, what's the big idea stealing the hero like that?! Well… almost hero," Yuffie shrugged.

"Shutcher mouth, Yuffie! We just needed to get some things cleared up with hair-gel-for-brains!" an angered Barret hollered, waving the girls away. Children started trickling outside to see what all the fuss was about.

Cloud twitched, obviously irritated by the insult, Tifa sighed, and Yuffie shrieked at Barret for disrespecting someone of her status.

Before Tifa, Cloud, or Vincent really cared to pay attention to the increasing noise level, weapons were being brandished.

Vincent looked to Cloud and Tifa, "We should go."

"This will take a while. Or we'll get dragged into it," Cloud sighed.

"Yeah, let's go. Marlene! Denzel! Come on, we're going home!" Tifa called. The two children separated themselves from the dispersing crowd, skirted the full-blown battle, and met up with Tifa, Vincent, and Cloud. Barret immediately separated himself from the fight to accompany his daughter home.

"Papa!"

"Hey, Darlin'!"

Marlene clasped Barret's massive hand in her own small one with a laugh as the group left Aerith's church.

Tifa unlocked the door to the Seventh Heaven and started checking the soundness of the building with the other adults before the children were allowed inside.

Cloud stepped outside once it was certain that no major damage was done, "Alright, it's safe. You can come in," he said as he held the door open for Marlene and Denzel.

"Thanks, Cloud!" the pair chirped as they ran inside and up to the bar.

"Gimme something hard!" Marlene growled in her best Cloud impersonation.

Tifa "hmph"ed bemusedly before filling two glasses with juice.

"Thanks!" Marlene piped.

"Thank you!" Denzel watched Barret's reaction from behind his juice.

"You drink in front of Marlene?!" Barret hollered.

"She lives in a bar, you know I don't drink often, and you've drunk in front of her, too," Cloud sighed, then with a smirk, "Gimme something hard."

"D'you believe this fool?!" Barret yelled.

"Oh, calm down. I think all the adults could use a drink, and Cloud has a point. She does live in a bar. So do any of our friends when they're around… Let me get those drinks," she said with a belated smile.

Cloud had a sudden interest in the wood grain of the counter. He picked at a splinter.

It was an unusually busy and rowdy night at the Seventh Heaven due the celebration resulting from Sephiroth's defeat. Tifa ended up having to stop a few friendly, drunken brawls gone awry before sending the men home. She also had a tough time keeping more than two flirts at bay. Even with the help of the rest of her friends, the night was tiring to say the least. She was tempted not to let Marlene be the waitress, but allowed it since the rest of her friends were there.

"Yuffie! Take those plates back to get washed, please! Marlene, can you help me with some of this food?" Tifa called while carrying a full tray of food and drinks out to a hungry table.

Marlene came to relieve Tifa of some of her burden.

"Got it!" Yuffie hopped over a few rows of legs and gathered dishes to be washed.

"Tifa! We need help in the kitchen!" Barret called.

"You'd better not be cooking, Cid!"

A flare went up in the kitchen and a few men yelled. Cloud and Barret stumbled out of the now smoking room coughing. Cloud was soaked with dishwater and Barret was wearing an apron, both were covered in smoke.

"WHAT DID YOU DO!?" Tifa ran into the kitchen and choked on the stench of the burnt, smoldering something that Cid had doused with water, "What is that?!"

"What's going on in here?" Cait Sith popped his head in from the window.

"Cid. Just keep mixing drinks, Cait Sith," Tifa sighed.

"Hey, this doesn't happen that often! I was gonna call it Chicken a la Bahamut," replied a smoke-and-grime-covered Cid, "but I guess I put too much flare in the mega flare."

"Clean it," Tifa started prepping the other, less charred, area of the kitchen to cook in, "stay away from the stoves, Cid! We don't have time to deal with stuff like this!" she threw a damp washcloth at the charcoal chef and headed out with two more washcloths.

"Barret! You were supposed to keep an eye on him!" Tifa tossed the towels at the two of them before heading back to the kitchen to cook more dishes.


	2. Chapter 2

When I started writing this story, I hadn't seen Advent Children for about a year. Due to that, I forgot that Cloud was also shot through the chest by Yazoo after Cloud's fight with Sephiroth. I was also unaware that the room that Cloud and Tifa woke up in during Advent Children was Denzel and Marlene's room, so Cloud and Tifa sleep in the same room in my story. I apologize for my mistakes, but the story has progressed far enough that eliminating all traces of my errors would be nearly impossible without re-writing the story. Please forgive my ignorance! Thank you!

2

After Seventh Heaven finally closed its doors for the night, everyone scattered to different parts of the building to sleep. Tifa, Cloud, Denzel, and Marlene already had beds there, but everyone else ended up using what they could snatch for themselves. Yuffie, being the fastest, was able to nab the sofa before anybody else and subsequently sprawl across the entire thing, leaving Cid to find and claim the big squashy armchair ignored by Vincent and Nanaki, who respectively went into a closet and next to a heater. Cait Sith found a corner and shut down while Barret was left staring at all of his resting and snoring companions before he went to find a spot of his own.

Cloud went up to his and Tifa's room and looked at his neatly made bed. Tifa walked in after her shower and was about to crawl into her own bed when she caught sight of him.

She laughed tiredly, "You still have smoke all over your face."

"No thanks to Cid."

Tifa left and came back with a damp cloth, "C'mere," she said with a smile.

"Deja'vu," Cloud said as he walked over and sat across from Tifa.

"Hm, well just stay still, alright?"

"Mmhm."

Tifa wiped off Cloud's face, "So, you've never been able to clean you face?"

"What?"

"You said this was deja'vu."

"Oh. On my first mission for AVALANCE, I almost missed the train back to the slums and ended up with soot all over my face. Jessie wiped it off."

"Haha, did you jump on the train or something?" Tifa teased.

"Well, I had to get on somehow," Cloud shrugged.

"Alright. You're soot free. On your face at least. Now go get an actual shower, you know where spare clothes are."

"Right."

By the time Cloud had gotten back from his shower, Tifa was lying upside down in her bed with her feet up on the pillow, while her head and body were totally encumbered by tightly tucked blankets. Cloud couldn't help but smile.

He climbed into his own bed and would have been asleep immediately were it not for someone coming into the room. Cloud looked over to see Vincent standing in the room next to Tifa's bed.

"Vincent?" Cloud mumbled, "What're you doing?"

Without saying a word, Vincent reached down and stroked Tifa's head gently.

"Ah-!" Cloud started, then rose and glared at Vincent.

"Cloud?" a barely audible voice murmured from under the blankets.

At this, Vincent quickly lifted his hand from Tifa's head as if startled, audibly walked from her bed to Cloud's, then left the room as silently and as quickly as death while Cloud stood in shock. Before Tifa had time to think she might want to talk to him about what just happened, Cloud had jumped back into bed, flipped onto his side, and curled up into a pseudo sleep.

"What is it you cherish most? Give me the pleasure of taking it away." Sephiroth taunted with a smile.

Cloud glanced nervously at the airship. Sephiroth followed the blond's gaze and laughed, "I should have known."

With that and the beat of a wing, the silver-haired demon was flying towards the airship.

"No!" Cloud chased after Sephiroth, desperate to save his friends, but was unable to reach the Shera before Sephiroth had boarded.

Cloud fought savagely against his restraints as Sephiroth held a badly wounded Tifa by the hair. If he didn't help her, her corpse would join those of the rest of his friends.

"This is your fault," Tifa glared all of her hatred at Cloud for not stopping the massacre as Sephiroth drew back his sword and, with a smile-

"No! Tifa!"

Cloud woke covered in a cold sweat. He jumped out of bed to check of Tifa; she was sleeping peacefully right side up and in one piece. He sighed, then walked over to her and stroked her hair, relief calming him down. He gripped his shirt over his heart and left the room to make sure the rest of his family was okay. Though there was really no way to check on Reeve, seeing Cait Sith shut down in the corner instead of raising an alarm was a good sign. He checked Yuffie, still sprawled on the couch but covered in goosebumps, then found Vincent as he was getting a blanket for her. Nanaki was warm next to the heater, Cid was snoring in the huge armchair, as expected, and Marlene and Denzel were in Denzel's bed. Marlene must have been more scared from the day's events than she let on. He picked up one of her dolls and put it under the blanket with the children, then moved on to find Barret.

After scouring the whole house, Cloud was left with only the bathroom and the roof to check. Doubting the big oaf was even in the building at this point, Cloud walked into the bathroom and would have left were it not for the snort that came from the bathtub behind the shower curtain.

He can't honestly be that stupid?

Incredulous, Cloud pulled back the curtain enough to see a massive dark form with a metal hand and a gaping mouth in the bathtub. Cloud let out a small snicker before he covered his mouth and left.

The next day, Tifa woke to an angry bellow from the bathroom, followed by Cloud walking into their room hurriedly.

"What happened-?"

"Sh, when he comes in I'm sleeping, okay?" Cloud quickly climbed into bed and covered his head.

Tifa snorted and winced, "What'd you do?"

"You'll see, now sh."

A bruised and soaked Barret busted through the door, "CLOUD! WHAT DA F*** DID YOU DO THAT FOR?!"

"Ah! Barret be quiet!" Tifa warned, pointing upstairs to the children's bedroom.

Cloud bolted upright in bed, then winced, feigning having just woken up but not feigning pain, "What are you doing screaming so early in the morning?!" he muttered aggravatedly, sitting still to avoid waking his wounds further.

"Sorry, Tifa. But you know exactly what da hell you did, Spikey!"

"Barret. I can barely move. Do you really think I would make a special trip out of a warm bed to dump a bucket of water on you?" he gingerly lay back down onto his pillow and turned over.

"He has a point," Tifa added. But obviously he would do exactly that, Tifa thought with an inside laugh.

Barret growled, "Well it better not happen again or your hair gel's coming out!"

"I don't use hair gel," Cloud murmured before falling back asleep.

"I call bullshit. Oh, sorry for waking you up, Tifa," Barret made a face at Cloud's sleeping form before leaving.

"Cloud? Are you awake?" Tifa turned and looked at Cloud.

"Not really…"

"Let me check your shoulder and chest before you go back to sleep."

"A'right," Cloud sat up and winced when he moved to take off his shirt.

"Here."

"I got it," he dodged, awkwardly avoiding help.

"Don't be embarrassed, it'll just make things difficult. You should probably wear button up shirts for a while after this," she slipped the shirt over his head, "There you go."

Some of the others came into the room while Tifa was unwrapping Cloud's old bandages, all of the newcomers were bruised extensively.

Cloud hissed and gripped the bed sheets when Tifa accidentally knocked into a particularly tender wound.

"How you holdin' up?" Yuffie inquired.

"I've been better," he grunted.

"You're kidding!" she gasped.

"..."

Cid whistled, "You took quite a beating."

"..."

"Guys, come on, give a man a break! I didn't see any of you take down Kadaj and Sephiroth before getting blown up!" Cait Sith piped in.

"We took a beatin' from Bahamut, though," Cid scoffed.

"And from yourselves," Tifa interrupted, "Yuffie, can you get me some new bandages?"

"Fine," Yuffie walked stiffly out of the room.

"I'll be right back with some water to clean your wounds," Tifa stood gingerly. Cloud hated being wounded. He was suddenly reverted back into a baby-like state when it came to Tifa.

"What about your injuries, Tifa? You can't be fully healed from your fight with Loz?" he asked

"Oh, um. I'm fine. Well, no. I mean, I do need to change my bandages. But I need to do them myself. I also got a lot of wounds to the torso, so, um…and they're more bruises and scratches than cuts," how come she gets to downplay probably getting several ribs broken, but Cloud can't get his own water?

"Oh uh, yeah...sorry," Cloud ducked his head in apology.

Tifa left to get the water and Marlene came in with a package of bandages.

"Hi, Marlene. Are you helping everyone again?" Cloud started a small conversation with the young girl, figuring Yuffie had shoved her work onto her.

"Yeah, I want Papa and everyone else to get better soon!" she replied cheerfully.

"Heh, you sure have a lot of energy. Is Denzel helping you?"

"Uh huh!"

"You can put the bandages on the bed next to me."

"Okay!" Marlene placed the new wraps on the bed next to Cloud, avoiding looking at his injuries.

The next few days were spent in healing and light repairs around the establishment, but as everyone began feeling better, the Seventh Heaven was made into good condition once again.

Much to Cloud's embarrassment, every one of his friends seemed to have made it their own personal mission to get Tifa and himself into a relationship, although Yuffie was easily the worst. Nothing is worse than an 18-year-old girl who thinks she's directing a romance novel.

There was one moment in particular that made even looking at Tifa for the next two days a nightmare. Amidst the construction of Edge going on all around the Seventh Heaven, Cloud had been repairing and replacing some boards in a closet that had been damaged at some point. I'm sure you can see where this was going. Yuffie sent Tifa in to "get some paint", and had obviously gotten help from the others, for before Cloud was able to get out of the closet to let Tifa in, Tifa was shoved inside, the door was closed, and a heavy body leaned on the door to keep it shut.

GODDAMMIT BARRET!

"Barret!" Tifa hollered in surprise.

"What was that for, you cretin?" Cloud punched the door awkwardly. There wasn't much wiggle room with both him and Tifa in the dark closet.

"Sorry, guys," Barret called tauntingly from the outside, "Yuffie told me to help you two to get 'closer' to one another."

"Barret! You really are going to listen to Yuffie's dumb ideas?!"

"You're just being senseless!" Tifa chastised the massive man.

"Hey, I'm doing you guys a favor!" Barret laughed.

"And what favor is that?" Tifa asked, blushing. Cloud didn't have to see her face to know that. Minutes passed with no improvement.

Outside, the sounds of construction seemed to grow in volume in Cloud's head until there was little else to listen to.

KA-KLUNK KA-KLUNK

BRRRRRRRRRR

CRASH BANG BOOM BOOM BOOM

Cloud held his head and attempted to block out the noise and the creeping feeling that the room was getting smaller. More minutes ticked by with constant attempts to get the big lout off of the door. Eventually, Cloud quit talking and leaned against the wall. He pushed at the opposite wall to keep it off of him. He was covered in sweat. _Don't throw up. Don't throw up. _

"Cloud, are you alright?" Tifa's hands searched for his face, "Oh, Cloud!" he could hear the worry in her voice once her soft hands touched his face.

_No, don't pity me_, Cloud's stomach sank in humiliation. He shuddered. _Don't throw up._

He was feeling worse and worse…How long had they been stuck in here? Tifa rubbed his shoulder, probably trying to calm him down. His stomach sank further. He couldn't look at her for a week after this.

"BARRET!" Cloud's voice was tainted with panic, "OPEN THE DAMN DOOR!"

"Why?"

"JUST OPEN IT!"

"Oh, whoops," Barret opened the door, remembering Cloud's hatred of small, loud places, "Sorry, Spike, I forgot."

Cloud shoved past the brute and went outside to sit and breathe.

A few seconds later, Tifa joined him outside, "Are you okay, Cloud?"

The claustrophobic blond rubbed his temples, "Yeah…"

"Do you want me to get anything to help you calm down?"

"Um, tea?"

"Sure, I'll have it right out," Tifa left.

Barret should know better than to compromise a man's pride. He's going to catch hell later.


	3. Chapter 3

I hadn't seen the epilogue of Advent Children, so Zack's sword is still in its original place. My bad :P

3

Most of the group dispersed once more after a couple nights of makeshift sleeping arrangements. Tifa couldn't help but notice that Barret was avoiding Cloud after the closet incident, and for good reason. Tifa was woken one morning to Barret screaming.

"GAWD DAMN MOTHER F*****G CLOOOOOUD! WHERE DA HELL ARE YOU?!" Barret stomped into Tifa and Cloud's room to find a shocked Tifa and an empty bed.

When Tifa saw Barret, she burst out laughing, "He shaved you?!"

Barret had indeed been robbed of his corn rows and now had a head as bare as a baby's bottom.

"WHERE IZEE?!" Barret screeched.

"Probably gone," Tifa replied, "He probably used a delivery as an excuse to leave early after giving you a haircut," she suppressed more laughter.

"Awww…" Barret rubbed his head, "It don't look too bad, right?"

"No, it actually looks fine, Cloud did a good job. Especially if he did it without waking you up."

Marlene hopped into the room, "Papa! Your hairs gone!" she giggled, "Is that why Cloud disappeared?"

Denzel appeared at Marlene's side and stared at Barret's head before snickering into his hand.

"Aw, shuddup," Barret waved the kids off, "Hey, Marlene, you wanna go walk around town with your Dad? I've missed you!"

"Yeah! Can Denzel come, too?"

Barret smiled, "Sure, baby. Now come on. Oh, you don't mind if I take the kids, right Tifa?"

"No, you're fine, just don't get too crazy."

"If you get lonely, just call us," Marlene chirped.

"No, I think I'll be okay. Thank you though, Marlene," Tifa smiled.

Cloud paused in his drive away from Edge, then changed his course to stop by the West side of Midgar. As the blond drove to the other end of the city, his destination triggered a memory.

It had been when Cloud still had severe Mako poisoning due to Hojo's testing. Zack had been walking the two of them to Mideel and telling stories about the past in hopes of making Cloud react. Just to make sure that he was alive. Zack knew that Cloud was in there somewhere, but he was just lost with all of the voices of the Mako in his head. But he was trying. That was the least he could do.

"Hey, Cloud, did I ever tell you about my light-up shoes?" he inquired nonchalantly one day.

Cloud said nothing, but paid vague attention.

"Well, I don't remember them myself. My mom told me the story when I was older."

Cloud still didn't react. Unperturbed, Zack continued with his story.

"When I was a kid, well when we were kids, do you remember those awesome light-up shoes? They had that button that if you stepped on it, it would make the shoes light up? Well, my mom ordered me some from Midgar one year for my Christmas present. It was EPIC! Well, on the shoes was a shiny red sticker. I couldn't read, but it said 'Press here' on it. So anyways," he said with a laugh, "it was shiny and red. So I ate it," he paused for a second to snicker, "So…when it came time to change Baby Zack's diaper-I wasn't toilet trained yet-my mom found…a special present," he had trouble getting the rest of the story out through laughter, "I-it was the sticker! It came out TOTALLY readable! A-ha-nd it was face up in my poop!" he stopped walking so he could laugh, "It still said 'Press here'!" he leaned on a nearby tree and laughed until he cried. When he finally got a hold of himself, "Dude, those shoes were the BOMB!"

Unfortunately, Cloud didn't react beyond a slight twitch, but that was apparently enough for Zack to smile and tread on.

Cloud smiled at the memory, then finished his drive to where Zack's sword was embedded in the ground. It had become very rusted and Cloud could see the crack forming up the side of the metal had gotten bigger. Guilt gnawed at his stomach when he saw the condition of Zack's prized memento. The sight triggered another memory. Zack had been telling Cloud about his sword's previous owner after meeting on the way to Modeoheim. Zack mentioned that he never used the sharp end of the sword out of respect for his mentor. Why was that? Who uses a sword as a club? Oh yeah. Apparently Zack's mentor didn't use the sword at all because use would cause wear, tear, and rust. So Zack only used the dull end of the sword to preserve it in his mentor's honor.

Cloud spent the next half hour scraping rust off of the sword and polishing it as well as was possible without proper tools. He would have to come back later and try to do a better job.

Tifa cared to the few patrons that came in at this time, mostly richer people that had time in the middle of the morning, but still weren't above visiting a small, less than 5-star bar. When she wasn't keeping the bar up, she sat and thought about how things could go from here.

The bar was doing fairly well, and was becoming more and more a steady source of income. Cloud's delivery job acted well as insurance. They still had some magic pot money from the Northern Crater, although most of that had gone into building the Seventh Heaven. Edge was slowly but surely becoming a whole city capable of supporting all of its citizens. The Geostigma was gone. But these were current facts, and no matter how Tifa thought, she couldn't find a single ending or a single point where she should be in the next few years, next few months. Her mind wandered for a moment, thinking of several different "What if"s for several different aspects of her life.

Her mind soon turned to Cloud. And what of him? What of her relationship to him? What if they remained awkward friends their whole lives? What if they became a couple? Married? Tifa imagined some of her and Cloud's facial features mixed into a child. A little girl with Cloud's eyes, Tifa's nose and jaw, long and unruly honey colored hair…

Tifa blushed and shook her head to shed the image of the smiling girl. What was she thinking? Now wasn't the time for daydreams. That could wait until true peace was found.

In the following months, little changed. Edge was crawling toward completion and old Midgar was paying the price, everyday becoming a little more broken down, a little more taken apart, and a little more dilapidated. That was seen by several as a sign of moving forward, however, of leaving a painful past behind them. Funny how one has to only change the order of the same old objects to make them new again.

Tifa was pondering this and then laughed, "Edge is a lot like Cloud's bike, actually. A bunch of old bits and pieces polished and put together to act new again."

In the next couple of days, Cloud came back to the house to be still for a while. Marlene and Denzel were ecstatic, of course. The minute Cloud walked in the door, Denzel ran up to his room and came barreling back in with his fighting stick.

"I've gotten a lot better, Cloud! Can I show you?!" Denzel took a fighting stance, ready to show the swordsman how to properly abuse the air.

Cloud "hmph"ed and sat down in a chair after moving Denzel to a more open spot outside.

"Hey, long time no see, Cloud," Tifa commented after handing him a glass of water.

"I guess I had too many jobs lined up at once," Cloud replied with a smile in Tifa's direction. He drained his glass in next to no time.

"Do you want more water?" Tifa said with a laugh, then glanced out at Denzel and shouted, "Denzel, watch for people!"

"Watch it, kid!" an irritated passerby snatched Denzel's stick and rubbed his thwacked arm.

"Oh, sorry!" Denzel bowed, "I'm really sorry, can I have my sword back, please?"

The stranger gave Denzel a piqued look, then laughed and handed the stick back, "Watch where you swing that thing. A real swordsman doesn't hit what he doesn't intend to," he left.

Denzel stared after the strange passerby.

Cloud smirked, "He's right, you know."

Later that evening, after dinner and while everyone was getting ready for bed, Cloud laughed and looked at Tifa, "Any children you have will be well behaved."

Tifa looked at Cloud, "What do you mean?"

"Denzel and Marlene do whatever you say when you're serious."

"Hm, I never really thought about it, I suppose."

Cloud chuckled, an image of Tifa chastising her two children over a broken object snapped through his head. Two little girls.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing."

"Hm," Tifa stared at him for a moment, wondering what was up, then left to brush her teeth.

Cloud lay down on his bed and closed his eyes, appreciating his own place to sleep in and thinking of how he really ought to clean his office free of old job slips.

Cloud caught a whiff of the released air from his bed when he lay down. He frowned. Although it was his bed, it smelled slightly musty and abandoned, with only a faint lingering of whatever soap had been used to wash the sheets last time. He'd been gone longer than he realized. How old were Denzel and Marlene now? Or any of his adult friends? There wasn't a steady supply of calendars in the wilderness and Cloud wasn't even of sure all of his friends' birthdays if he ever knew them in the first place. Well, he would never forget May 3rd, at least.

When Tifa got back in the room, Cloud looked at her, "What's today's date?"

"Umm, August…either 6th 7th or 8th…" she pondered.

"Really?"

"Pretty sure."

"Huh," well, at least he would know when his 24th birthday rolled around now, "Thanks."

"No problem."


	4. Chapter 4

4

"Are we agreed, then? That's the plan?" Marlene asked Denzel.

The children were sitting on the floor of their room with what looked like a battle simulation of toys surrounding them.

"Yeah, sounds good to me. But why is it so important that it's in 11 days?" Denzel asked, giving voice to his one curiosity.

"Because that's Cloud's birthday!"

"Really?" it had never really occurred to Denzel that his hero was bound by things like birthdays, "How old is he gonna be?"

"I don't know, but it has to be a good birthday, he's actually going to be here! I bet Tifa's already getting started on plans to keep Cloud at the house long enough for his birthday."

"Yeah…okay, let's make this work!"

"It _will_ work," Marlene said with a smile.

Marlene searched the house and found Cloud fumbling to clean his office. Haha, the poor guy didn't know where to start!

"Do you need help, Cloud?" Marlene asked, smiling at how goofy he looked juggling two and a half boxes of loose paper.

"No, it's okay. Thank you though, Marlene," one of the boxes tumbled and Cloud grumbled to himself. He probably said a dirty word.

Marlene picked up one of the smaller boxes, "Do you need any of these?"

"No."

"What are you going to do with them?"

"Burn them."

Marlene gasped, "We can use them in the fireplace!" she said gleefully.

Cloud looked at Marlene incredulously, "Do you really want that heat in the house? It's August."

"Oh, I forgot. Maybe we could save them for winter? We'd like the heat then and winter isn't _too_ far away. Only a couple of months."

Cloud huffed at Marlene, "And in the meantime, the building gets devoured by slips of paper."

"Ummm…well, when you put it that way…"

Cloud shrugged and smiled a little bit at the girl, "It was a good idea, though. Just maybe at another time."

"Okay," Marlene smiled and set to work getting boxes of paper onto the pile that Cloud started.

Denzel ran up to Tifa after checking something with Marlene, "Tifa! I need to tell you something!"

"Yes, what is it, Denzel?" Tifa closed the handbook she was writing in and looked up at Denzel.

"Cloud doesn't have any jobs on call yet," Denzel whispered urgently after making certain that Cloud himself wasn't in the room, "We need to let people know not to ask him to deliver anything for a little bit."

Tifa smiled at Denzel, "You're certain that it's a coincidence Cloud has no jobs right now?"

Denzel's eyebrows rose, "You arranged that?"

"I might have had a little to do with it," she waved her hand passively and gave Denzel a knowing look.

The boy beamed, "You made sure Cloud can stay long enough for his birthday?"

"Of course!"

"I have to tell Marlene! She's been worrying that Cloud would try to leave before his birthday," Denzel turned to leave, "Oh," he turned back to Tifa, "How old is he going to be?"

"24 on the 19th," she replied, "Don't let him know that we realize his birthday's so close."

"Psh, I know that!"

With that, Denzel ran off to tell Marlene the good news.

Marlene grinned from ear to ear, "Perfect! Does Tifa suspect anything?"

"I don't think so, but she's planning something, too. I saw her writing in a little notebook."

"Do you know what it is?"

"No, she closed the book before I saw anything."

"Hm."

As the days drew closer to the 19th, the Seventh Heaven grew more excited. Although the excitement was fairly well contained, Cloud was able to tell that something was up, and was pretty sure that he was the source of the buzz.

On the 18th, Cloud approached Tifa.

"So, what's gotten everyone so excited lately? You, Marlene, and Denzel have been acting oddly ever since I got back, and I usually don't go this long without a job request," he stated, arms folded over his chest and eyebrow raised.

"We're just excited that you're back is all, and for so long, too. We're not sure when you'll leave again, so were all making the most of our time," Tifa smiled.

"Then we should be spending a bit more time actually together, don't you think?" Cloud countered, "Everyone's been in and out of the house constantly…almost like they're planning something behind my back."

"Really? I'm sorry you feel that way, Cloud," Tifa frowned. She shifted a bit uncomfortably, "I've been wanting to spend more time with everyone, too, but I've had lots of things to do for the bar. We were running low on some ingredients."

"Don't even try to lie to me," Cloud replied with a smirk.

Tifa shot him a grin, "Who says I'm lying?"

"Alright. See you tomorrow. You've got some ingredients to pick up?" the blond flipped his bangs out of his face in his signature gesture and walked away.

Well, he still didn't know exactly what was being planned, at least.

Once Cloud was gone, Tifa smiled warmly, "You're letting yourself be happy again, Cloud."

She went outside and pulled out her cellphone. Once the line got connected and the usual "Hello"s and "How are you?"s had been given, Tifa asked, "So, did you make it to Edge yet?...Most of you did?...Great! I'll send Cloud out and you can help us around here…Oh yeah, he'll be fine…Uh huh, He's been happier lately, I'm glad for him…Bye to you, too. See you in a bit!"

Tifa hung up the phone and went inside so that she could "notice" she was out of beef and chocobo, and was almost out of non-cracked dishes.

"Cloud!" she called, "Can you do me a favor?"

Cloud came into the room a moment later, "Depends on the favor."

"It's nothing difficult. Can you go to the butcher and get some beef and chocobo, and get some new dishes? Almost all of the ones here are cracked," she paused, "Maybe wooden dishes wouldn't be a bad idea," she mused to herself.

"Where am I supposed to find wooden dishes, Tifa?" Cloud looked dubiously at her.

"Good point. If you can't find any, just go with our regular type. I'll be right back with the money."

Once Tifa left, Cloud inspected the cabinets and freezer to see if they were truly out of anything, but found it was exactly as Tifa described.

_She left these chores for me on purpose._

Once Cloud was out of the house, Tifa made a call and gave the all-clear. A few moments later, Barret, Vincent, Cid and Shera (shockingly enough), and Nanaki arrived. Reeve was busy, so Cait Sith had to be absent and Yuffie was still about half a day's distance away.

"How much time do we have, Tifa?" Nanaki asked.

"At least two hours, so let's get as much behind-the-scenes work done as we can. Just make sure that none of it's visible, I'll make everything look nice while he's sleeping."

"D'ya think he's totally ignorant?" Cid pondered, twirling a cigarette in his hand.

"Absolutely not, but he doesn't know exactly what we're doing, so things are going well," Tifa replied. She took the cigarette and tossed it in the trash.

"Bitch! What was that for?!"

"I'm not having that smell in my bar. It'll take days to get it out," she poured a cup of water into the trash.

"Shit, figures that he can't keep his nose out o' things that ain't his business," Barret huffed.

"Shutcher ass up, you buffoon!" Cid snapped, "It don't get much more his business than his God damn birthday.

Shera hit Cid in the arm, "Would you quit it with the filthy mouth?"

"Shut up!"

"That's enough, you three. Cid, Barret, quit arguing and start bringing everything inside while I start the cake. Vincent, Nanaki, could you help them?" Tifa said.

The men went straight to work.

Amid the grown-ups running around doing this or that, Marlene and Denzel helped organize everything that was being brought inside.

"Hey, Denzel," Marlene grabbed the boy by his sleeve.

"What is it?"

"There's a lot of stuff here, what if Cloud doesn't find our thing?"

"We'll just have to put it somewhere we know he'll see it. Do you think he'll know it's from us?"

"I hope not. He's a lot more questioning about stuff than Tifa."

"But Tifa might know, too," Denzel frowned, "If they know that they didn't give them to each other, then our whole plans blown up."

"Plan?" Cid had walked by carrying a bag of food, "What plan is this?"

"Nothing!" the children yipped.

The pilot stared the children down until they averted their eyes.

"It got anythin' t'do with me?"

"No, it's about Cloud and Tifa," Marlene murmured.

Cid smiled, "Anythin' I can do ta help?"

After everything was brought inside, Barret, Cid, Vincent, Shera, Nanaki, Marlene, and Denzel gathered in and near the kitchen, drawn by the smells of heaven inside. That woman can cook!

"What kind of cake is it?" Barret asked. Strewn across the counter were eggs, flour, lemons galore, sugar, and everything else that may or may not be necessary to build a Tifa cake.

"Lemon pound cake. I've been wanting to bake something with lemons for a while and I was able to find some, so I bought as many as I could carry. Shera, do you want to help?"

The scientist had been watching Tifa's hands and movements like a hawk, possibly hoping to improve her baking skills through diffusion, "Oh, well I, um…"

"Her baking skills are no better than mine, so unless you want rocket booster in your cake, I would suggest leavin' the two of us out of the mix," Cid scoffed.

"Oh, please, I was just going to ask her to zest some lemons while I was making the batter."

"Isn't that where you shred little bits of the peel?" Shera asked.

"Yes, would you mind? And unless you are under the age of 10, get out of here," Tifa replied, shooing the men from the kitchen, "Go get the decorations hidden somewhere and don't make a mess."

By the time Cloud returned, everyone had left and the house looked the same as before, if not a tad bit cleaner.

"Did you get everything?" Tifa inquired, relieving Cloud of the bags of meat and putting them in the freezer.

"Yeah, I'll be right back," he left and returned with the dishes he picked up. He set the large box on a nearby table before opening it.

"You found wooden dishes?!" Tifa was amazed! She was fairly sure that anything made out of wood would be nonexistent in this city of scrap metal, "Where did you find them?"

"I know a guy," Cloud replied enigmatically.

"Uh huh? How much were they? I'd like to get more if I can," Tifa returned, picking up and inspecting a plate.

"Oh," Cloud reached into a pocket and handed the leftover money back to Tifa, "They were a little expensive, but there was enough to pay for them," Cloud left out the fact that he threw in a bit of his own money to get a larger set of dishes that had been a better price per dish.

Tifa laughed, then started gathering dishes to put on the shelves, "They're really light," she observed.

"Yeah," Cloud helped put the new dishes away. Tifa made sure he didn't open any cabinets he wasn't supposed to.

Cloud leaned on the counter once they were done and looked at the raven haired girl across from him, "So, can I be pretty certain about the cause of you being so busy?"

"Pardon?" Tifa raised an eyebrow and placed her hand on her hip.

"Nothing. Do you need help with anything else?"

"No, I 'm done here."

"Alright, goodnight, Tifa," Cloud went upstairs.

"Goodnight, Cloud."


	5. Chapter 5

5

Tifa woke early the next morning and looked to her right to see a blond hedgehog poking out from under Cloud's blanket. She laughed quietly then went downstairs to set everything up.

The night before, when Cloud and she had been putting away dishes, Tifa had been very careful not to let him near the areas where cake and decorations had been hidden. Now, she quickly removed all of the pieces from their hiding places and arranged them about the bar. She placed the cake on the counter and made it the centerpiece of all of the decorations and finished adding details on the cake itself. Tifa had to feel quite a bit of pride in her cake, made for Cloud or not.

It was a super moist lemon pound cake with dense vanilla icing the perfect shade of yellow. The embellishments on the cake were done in the same dense icing, but white. Tifa just enjoyed herself while decorating the cake, so it turned out a bit more pretty than it should have been, but she had had so much fun making the first icing rose on the side that she had to put a little cluster, and then the edges looked empty to she had to put trimming, and so on and so on.

Tifa admired her cake for a moment before finishing the decorations. Due to a low range of available shopping items, most of the decorations had been handmade by everyone in the group. Marlene had recruited her father into helping her make several bags full of flower wreaths (it was no easy task to get the flowers, but ever since Shinra had stopped draining Mako, foliage was slowly making its way closer to the city). Cid had taken it upon himself to bring two jugs of homemade whiskey which, assuming there was any left after today, could go towards the bar if it tasted good. Shera had brought some sort of…thing. Tifa couldn't make out what it was, but it was mechanical and didn't look like it would blow up, so that was good enough for her. Vincent brought some money he found in Shinra Manor. Nanaki brought a woven blanket from Cosmo Canyon, which Tifa recognized as the blanket Cloud had admired for a bit the first time they all had been to the canyon. Yuffie probably wasn't bringing anything, and if she did it would be something…nevermind. Most of the gifts (excluding Cid's and Shera's) were wrapped or put in bags with tissue paper.

Tifa finished setting everything up, stretched, and went back upstairs to get a few more minutes of sleep before the rest of the house woke up.

"Marlene," Denzel shook the sleeping girl's bed, "Marlene, wake up!"

"Mmmmf…," the 7 year old rolled over and looked blearily at Denzel, "Mm?"

"We have to get everything ready, Tifa and Cloud are still sleeping," the 8 year old reminded.

"Oh, yeah…" Marlene yawned and stretched, then hopped out of bed, "Okay, let's go."

Denzel walked over and reached under his bed, pulling out a necklace with a pearl on it that looked like it had a tendril of lifestream circling it, and a note. This was going to be Cloud's present to Tifa. Meanwhile, Marlene was digging through the children's dresser to pull out a bottle of metal polish (Cid had helped Marlene pick the right type for Cloud's swords and bike), new boots, and a note. These were going to be Tifa's presents to Cloud. Marlene and Denzel hadn't planned on doing notes, but Cid (and after that, everyone not Tifa or Cloud) had worked together to forge Cloud and Tifa's handwriting as best as possible. Shera wrote as Tifa and Vincent wrote as Cloud.

The two children crept downstairs, skipping that one creaky step and board in the hall.

Once downstairs, their eyes were captured by all of the decorations placed around the bar. Albeit slightly browned, the flower wreaths made by Marlene and Barret were pretty and adorned nearly every available surface in such a way that turned the dinghy bar into almost a church like Aerith's. On the table lay Cloud's presents: grown-up drinks, a metal thing, some money, a bag, and a box. Marlene looked at the presents and then wistfully at the cake before deciding that Cloud and Tifa's presents for each other would be better off given after the party.

"Denzel, they're going to sneak each other the presents," she said matter-of-factly.

"Huh? Why?"

"So that they'll know they're from each other!" Marlene replied, "You'll give Tifa's note to her and I'll give Cloud his note."

"Why?" Denzel was thoroughly confused by this sudden change in plan, although he agreed that putting their presents with everybody else's would be a no go.

"Cloud talks to you more than me and Tifa talks to me more than you, so it would make sense that they would give the notes to us if they were too chicken to give them to each other," Marlene replied, waving a small finger at Denzel as though he should have known this from the get-go.

"Oh, that makes sense, I guess. Are we going back to sleep, then?"

"Yeah, I'm sleepy."

The children went back upstairs to their room and crawled under the covers of their beds to tuck themselves away from the lightening day.

Cloud woke that morning with nary a thought to his birthday, just another day to live as he considered it. Once he left, a woken Tifa opened her eyes and smiled at the surprise waiting for Cloud in the downstairs bar.

The blond stopped short when he arrived downstairs. When had Tifa done this? He didn't remember her getting up early and she went to bed before he did (he had cleaned his office a bit more before going to bed). Or did Marlene and Denzel do it? He had heard the two kids try and sneak past his and Tifa's room earlier that morning, but they wouldn't have been able to make the bar look as nice as it did.

"Morning, Cloud. Do you like it?" Tifa had come downstairs and leaned on the bar counter.

"When did you do it?" Cloud picked up a flower wreath made by Barret, which nearly fell apart in his hand. He set it back down before it could fall entirely to pieces.

"Before you woke up," the dark haired beauty replied with a shrug.

"…It's nice…"

Tifa watched Cloud as he gazed around the decorations and gifts.

"You didn't have to do all of this…Thank you…"

"Don't be so embarrassed, Cloud. It's your birthday and it's a miracle any of us are around to celebrate it, so be happy!"

Cloud huffed a laugh and went over to inspect the metal thing that Shera had brought. His eyebrows rose, "Is this what I…?" he picked the contraption up and started towards the exit, "Can you get the door for me, Tifa?"

"Sure," she held the door for him and followed him outside, curiosity piquing her interest.

Cloud took the thing over to Fenrir and compared it to the engine already set in the bike. Although the new engine had several differently shaped parts, it was obviously made to fit in Fenrir. Tifa smacked her forehead. How could she be so stupid?! What else could Shera's gift have been than something for that never-ending project of Cloud's?

Cloud set the engine down with a smile and went inside to get the tools needed to upgrade his toy. Cloud may have been far from a master mechanic, but he had learned enough by working with others to replace any part of his bike that he wanted or needed to. Tifa laughed to herself and went inside to fix breakfast for when everybody showed up.

Within a few hours, everyone (hyperactive ninja added to the mix) had arrived at the house and were busy making their usual ruckus. Shera was thrilled that Cloud had already installed the engine she gave him and Cid was marveling that there was any whiskey left, because he apparently has it in his head that Cloud and Tifa could drink a gallon of whiskey each. Yuffie pulled Tifa to the side and shoved a box into her arms.

"What's this?"

"Cloud's present."

"Why don't you put it on the table with the others? Or give it to him?"

"Because open it."

Tifa wasn't sure that was such a good idea. She hesitated.

"Come on! Just open it!...Actually…" Yuffie paused as an idea popped into her conniving little brain, "It doesn't matter if you or he opens it, now that I think about it," Yuffie snatched the box from Tifa and ran back into the main room, placing it with the assortment of other gifts, then thought of something and ran out of the bar, hollering her imminent return in a half hour.

Oh, God, what's she up to? Tifa seriously pondered opening the box just to save Cloud from whatever foreign horrors Yuffie had brought with her.

Sometime a few hours later, most everyone had dipped into Cid's whiskey, even Cloud had had a healthy amout, which was understandable. It was his birthday after all. Tifa limited her intake of whiskey so she could watch everyone else be drunk and remember what happened, thus having the ability to laugh the next day.

"YO! SKIPEY!" Barret slurred, "YOUSGONNA JEZ LEAVE DEEZ PRESENTS?!"

Cloud sighed, hoping 'Skipey' was only a mistake brought on by drunkenness and not a new nickname. He had never skipped in his life and never will. He got up, tripped on his ankle, then walked over to the gifts and the mostly devoured cake and picked up a bag with colored tissue sticking out of it.

Nanaki (who partook little in drinking human liquor) sat up from his resting position, "That one's mine."

Cloud nodded and rustled the tissue paper out of the bag, then smiled as he took the blanket out, "Thanks, it's nice."

"Uh huh, I saw you looking at it the first time we went to my house," Nanaki barred his teeth in a smile and rested his head on his paws, "Glad you still like it."

"I brought booze! You're WELCOME you f*****g DUMBASSES!" Cid hollered through an empty glass.

"The money on the table this morning…" Vincent mumbled to himself.

"FLOWER POWER," King Bellows.

"I helped!" Marlene chirped.

Denzel attempted to pick up the sword leaned against the wall while no one was looking. Tifa caught it when it was knocked off balance.

"You should open mine now!" a drunken Yuffie commanded, tossing a thin box in Cloud's direction, which he almost dropped.

Cloud and Tifa both gave Yuffie dubious, untrusting looks as Cloud took the wrapping paper off of the box and took a peek inside, not revealing to anyone else what was in it.

"What is it?" Tifa tried to look in the box.

"I don't know, but I don't trust opening it in its entirety."

"Oh, come on! That's not fair!" Yuffie stomped her feet angrily, "Just open the stupid thing!"

Everyone raised eyebrows. Cloud opened the box again, raising the lid more than last time before snapping it shut, his face flushing with a mixture of embarrassment and anger. Tifa took a few steps away and hid her face. Yuffie burst into ecstatic guffaws, "It doesn't matter who decides to wear it!"

What was Cloud supposed to do with silk, black lingerie? Tifa would be more likely to use it, as was likely Yuffie's initial idea, but Cloud would sooner impale himself on any number of his swords than give it to her. Should he trash it? Someone might root through to see what it was…burn it, maybe? And what was with the blond wig stuffed underneath the underwear? Memories of Cloud's worst moments as a man strolled through his mind. Stupid purple dress...

For the moment, Cloud shoved the box unceremoniously under the sofa, much to everyone's general dismay (they still didn't know what it was and hopefully never will). There was an awkward silence for anyone not drunk or a child (meaning Vincent and Tifa). Tifa slipped a box into Cloud's hands sheepishly.

"Here."

Cloud looked at Tifa, "You didn't have to get me anything," he said somewhat shyly, "You've done more than enough already."

"Well I've already bought it, so open it, Strife," she mock demanded.

Cloud sighed, unwrapped, and opened the box to reveal a thick black jacket with a pendant of Fenrir emblazoned on the left shoulder.

"I worry about when you have to go through cold areas on that motorcycle," she explained as Cloud slipped the jacket over his arms.

"It's really warm," he said, not waiting long to remove the jacket again.

"Do you like it?"

"Of course," Cloud replied, a slight smile turning up the corners of his mouth.

Tifa beamed, "Good."

"Heeeey! Whatz wrong with what I got you guys?! I gaves you FUN-TIMES!" Yuffie slurred happily, waving and spilling some of her whiskey. Tifa sighed and took the glass from her.

"You've had more than enough."

"Gawd! MOM, WHYYYY?" Yuffie flopped onto her back dramatically, limbs splaying everywhere and almost kicking Tifa in the face, "Hi-yash!"

Tifa made sure Yuffie was withheld from any source of alcohol after that.

With the mysterious disappearance of the last half-gallon of Cid's whiskey, Barret retired to the bathroom to sleep and everyone else fell asleep wherever they happened to be five minutes after the whiskey disappeared. Yuffie had been sleeping for half an hour when everyone else fell asleep. Cloud and Tifa yawned, also feeling the effects of whatever Cid had put in the whiskey. Cloud's head bobbed as he fought a lack of adrenaline. He felt Tifa tap his arm and he looked blearily up at her.

"Help me get blankets for the others?"

"Mm," Cloud stood and reeled, then rubbed his eyes and followed Tifa to a closet, the same closet actually that they had been trapped in by Barret. Cloud didn't get a blanket for Barret. After everyone was taken care of, Cloud and Tifa carried Marlene and Denzel upstairs (Tifa stopped by the bathroom to let Marlene pee) and put them in bed. Those two had crashed as soon as the cake and sugar in their systems had been digested a little bit.

Tifa yawned and stretched, bones popping in her spine, then brushed her teeth, keeping to the side so Cloud could brush his teeth too, which he almost fell asleep doing.

By the time Tifa was pushing Cloud into their room, he was dead on his feet and she was dangerously near the same point. He crawled into the first bed available (still fully clothed) and instantaneously fell asleep. Not caring much that Cloud had stolen her bed, Tifa crawled into the beckoning blankets and warmth after Cloud and fell asleep after kicking her shoes onto the floor.

* * *

I'd like to thank everyone whose followed my story :) I'm really honored that people are reacting well to it, but I'm bad at this kind of stuff (meaning "Thank You"s not given in person), so please bear with me! Also, I am going to shoot for a new chapter every Sunday, so remember me! Love you guys!


	6. Chapter 6

6

When Cloud woke up the next morning, the first thing he noticed other than a headache and sensitivity to light was that he was in Tifa's bed. Confused, he did a mental recap of the previous night.

Presents. Blankets. Brush teeth…wake up.

He realized he was still wearing his shoes. Oops. Hopefully he didn't get dirt on Tifa's sheets. He stuck his feet out from under the blankets and kicked his shoes onto the floor. He'll wake up in a little while.

Holy crap, he was in Tifa's bed.

Cloud jumped out of the bed (startling and waking his sleeping companion) and started walking hurriedly downstairs.

"Cloud?! What happened?!" Tifa exclaimed.

Cloud said nothing and started down the stairs. He heard Tifa get out of bed and follow.

_Nonono._

She grabbed him by the shoulder. Cloud looked sidelong at her.

"What's wrong? Did something happen?" she asked, worry in her eye. Had he had a nightmare, she wondered?

Far from that actually. He had just had a very sudden and shocking dream.

"Um…bathroom," he dodged.

"The bathroom's that way," she said, jabbing her thumb over her shoulder, "What's wrong?"

"…Nothing."

Tifa gave him The Look and crossed her arms.

"I just…"

"Just…?" Tifa prompted.

He mumbled something about being embarrassing. Oh, was that all?

Tifa laughed lightly, "Don't worry about it, Cloud. You wouldn't have made it across the room anyway."

"But…"

"No 'but's. Come on, since we're awake, do you want some breakfast?"

"…Sure," he tucked his chin behind his sweater (which he should probably change out of) and followed Tifa downstairs.

Cloud watched her for a minute, bustling around the kitchen, before asking, "What can I do to help?"

"You're fine, just stay where you are," she replied.

"I want to help," Cloud got up and stood next to Tifa's workplace, then moved when a beam of evil sunlight hit him. He rubbed his temples, "If I do something, I'll feel better," that wasn't exactly true, but if he was closer to Tifa, then he would feel better, so…same difference, right?

"…Okay, fine," Tifa relented, "Could you make the pancake batter? I'll tell you what all goes in it, so just put it in the bowl in the order I tell you."

"Okay," wow, Tifa had never trusted him to do more than mix the batter once she was done putting it together.

"Three cups flour," she said, cracking several eggs into a bowl, "The measuring cups and spoons are in the drawer left of the silverware. The mixing bowl is in the cabinet left of my knee."

Cloud got the appropriate equipment and put the flour in the bowl.

"Is this much necessary?" he asked, wondering what all went into pancakes.

"We're making a double dose since everyone's over."

"Ah," Cloud smiled. We?

"Seven teaspoons of baking powder."

"Which is the teaspoon and which is baking powder?"

"The little spoon labeled 'Teaspoon' and the small red box in the pantry labeled 'Baking Powder'. Baking Soda is next to the powder. Don't use that one."

Oh, Cloud supposed that made sense.

_Note to self: Check Labels._

"Alright."

"Two teaspoons salt," she said, beating the heck out of scrambled eggs after adding salt and pepper. Tifa glanced over at Cloud to check if he was doing everything right.

Cloud got the table salt and took the lid off.

"There's a box of salt in the pantry."

_Oh._

Cloud found the box and put the salt in, "Okay?"

"Two tablespoons sugar. The tablespoon is the big one. Oh, and get six tablespoons of butter and set it in a bowl next to the stove to melt after you get the sugar," Tifa poured the eggs into the frying pan on the stove. Next to it was a skillet for the pancakes. She glanced at his progress once again.

"Okay?" he waited for his next task.

"Two and a half cups of milk."

"…Okay?"

"Two eggs, and the butter once it's melted," Tifa stirred the scrambled eggs to make sure they didn't burn.

"Okay. Do I mix after all of that?"

"Yup, very nice, Cloud," Tifa said with a smile, "You're on your way to becoming a true chef."

Cloud huffed, "Right. Watch out. Next to me, your cooking to be nothing," he raised his hands in a shrug and shook his head.

Tifa laughed, "I wouldn't say that."

Once most everyone more or less awake (there was lots of grumbling about too much light and noise), Tifa set the eggs and pancakes on two big plates to let everyone serve themselves.

Marlene and Denzel hopped up to the counter, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, and scooped eggs and pancakes onto their plates.

"Thanks, Tifa!" Marlene chirped.

"Fank ou!" Denzel followed, cheeks full of pancake and syrup. He paused and swallowed, "Tifa? Did you burn the pancakes a little bit?"

"Cloud made them. I think he did pretty well for a first-timer."

"Oh, ok," Denzel resumed eating, content with Tifa's reason for crispy pancakes.

Despite slight imperfections to the pancakes, Cloud felt pretty proud to have made them mostly unassisted. He helped himself to some of his flapjacks.

Once everyone was done eating (Cid ate least and last, having woken up an hour after everyone else), they started heading back to their homes. Barret stayed longer than the rest so he could catch up with Marlene and wander around Edge. Denzel stayed behind while Marlene and her father left to walk around the city. Someone had to make sure his and Marlene's plan succeeded, after all.

Tifa went upstairs and Cloud removed himself from the rest to start organizing his next trip out. Perfect. Denzel went upstairs to make sure Tifa found her present.

Cloud sat down at his desk and pulled his ever-present maps in front of him. Whoever wanted him to go all the way to freaking North Corel had better pay him well. He organized his other stops easily to make the entire thing a round trip. He should be back in time to care to his regulars without a hitch in his schedule if all went well.

After hammering out the details, Cloud stood to leave. He reached to his left to grab the jacket Tifa got for him (never know when it could get cold) and was surprised to find a box and note. Another present?

He opened the envelope and read the note:

Be careful on your trip, Cloud, and make sure to stay warm. You mean a lot to me and I hate that I can't take more care of you than I do. Happy Birthday, I love you.

~Tifa

Cloud stood frozen to his spot after reading the note, the final words ringing through his head.

_I love you._

_What? Me? _Cloud panicked a bit.

_I have to go. I need to think. She can't be serious. But she's not the kind of girl who would say that lightly. I have to go. Wouldn't she say it to my face if she meant it? But maybe she's embarrassed? Hell, I would be. Am._

Cloud grabbed, then let go of, then re-grabbed his jacket and walked out of the door before returning for the gift Tifa had given him. He'll open it later. He needed to get out.

He hurriedly walked outside and mounted Fenrir, starting the engine as soon as he had placed his jacket and present under his seat and put his goggles on. As he was driving away, he swore he heard Tifa call his name, but he was definitely going fast enough for the wind to block his hearing. Lalalalalala. Sorry, couldn't hear you.

Tifa stared after Cloud as he rounded a corner. She sighed. He wouldn't do that if what he said was true, would he? Maybe he was scared of her reaction. She would be terrified of someone's reply to this. She clenched the note in her fingers, careful not to wrinkle it, and thought about the only part of it she had read.

I love you, Tifa.


	7. Chapter 7

7

After driving for a few hours in the general direction of Junon, Cloud slowed to a stop and put his hand to his face. What the hell was he thinking?

"Coward…" he muttered to himself.

What kind of man runs from something like that? This? Cloud had half a mind to turn around right then back to Edge, but the insistent prodding of pick-ups and deliveries pushed Cloud to start back to Junon once again.

"Sorry, Tifa," Cloud frowned.

Denzel ran up to Tifa, "So, is Cloud gone?"

"Yeah. He couldn't stay forever, you know," Tifa shrugged.

Denzel eyed Tifa, "Did he say anything?"

"No, actually. He usually says 'bye,' at least."

"Oh," had his and Marlene's plan failed? This could be bad.

"I'm going to go get the bar ready," Tifa huffed, clasping her hands behind her and popping her back, "You go ahead and play, but stay out of trouble."

"Okay!" Denzel ran off to find some of his friends at their usual place.

Once back inside, Tifa read the rest of Cloud's note. His handwriting was a bit nicer than she realized. In the note was…the beginning…then an apology that Cloud hadn't been brave enough to tell her the confession in person. Beyond that, the note was hardly more than ordinary. Pencil and eraser had left pockmarks all over the paper and there was an erased list of some kind in the corner, probably a list of where deliveries were to be made. Tifa folded the note carefully and put in a drawer. She thought about calling Cloud, but then remembered that he had lost his phone sometime in the mess with Kadaj. Why hadn't she thought to get him a new phone for his birthday?

Tifa went downstairs, sadly no one had come in to eat yet. Tifa went to the kitchen and cleaned up from breakfast.

"Hey, Tifa," Denzel hopped onto a barstool and rested his chin on the counter.

"Hi, Denzel," Tifa replied, "I thought you were out playing?"

"I got bored, so I came back home," Denzel shrugged. The boy stared at the bartender, "Is something wrong?"

"Hm? No, of course not, Denzel. It's just a bit quiet now with everyone gone. I wish some customers would show up."

"Yeah…"

Denzel sighed and laid his cheek on his folded arms.

As the day progressed, people came in during their free time, relieving Tifa of her brooding thoughts.

While she was back putting together several orders (Cloud and the others had been trying to get Tifa to order some help lately, but no one who responded to the advertisements was trustworthy enough to hire), Tifa heard a familiar voice shout out, "Tifa! We're back!"

"Hey, Barret!" Tifa waved through the window, "Care to help with the lunch rush?"

"Sure, looks like you've been slammed. Where do these go?" Barret picked up two platters of food and turned towards the restaurant .

"Over there for the platter in your left and. Over there for your right," Tifa pointed.

"Alright," Barret began working his way towards his intended tables.

A few hours later, Tifa was able to begin focusing on cleaning the kitchen between making meals for a steady trickle of customers. While wiping down the counter, the door opened and a familiar "Hey, Teef!" rang across the bar.

"Hey, Reno. Rude," Tifa nodded in their direction and continued wiping down the counter as Reno straddled a stool at the bar.

"How you been doin?" the red-haired turk asked, leaning forward.

Oh, same old, same old. Except Cloud told her that he loved her, but no biggie.

"Same as usual. You missed a fun party, though," Tifa replied.

"Party? What party?" Reno leaned his head to the side.

"…" Rude raised an eyebrow.

Tifa raised an eyebrow in return, "Didn't you get your invitation to Cloud's birthday? It was on the 19th."

"Wha?! Oh, come on! I never even realized Chocobo head HAD a birthday! I so should have been there!" he laughed jovially, "He's gonna get it next year!"

Rude shifted, "…"

"Go ahead and sit, Rude," Tifa smiled.

The dark turk nodded and sat in the chair next to Reno.

"So," Reno continued, "How old is the guy?"

"24."

"Eh? You mean he's younger than me? Oh-ho-ho-ho-ho-_hoh_! I am SO holding that over him from now on!" Reno grinned evilly and slapped his knees.

"…What's wrong?" Rude asked.

"Wrong? What do you mean?"

A group of teenagers walked in, saving Tifa from awkward questions.

Cloud stopped by to pick something up in Junon before getting on a cargo ship. When he went to put the box under his seat before parking Fenrir, he found his remaining birthday gift. Cloud pulled it out and put his jacket in another compartment on his bike to make room for his delivery package. He stuck the present under his arm while he made his way to the cargo ship. He'd open it there.

Once paying for his ticket, popping two pills for motion sickness, and removing anything he might need from Fenrir (one sword included), he located his room and removed himself from society.

A smile played at his lips as, once again, he shook the box next to his ear to try and discern what was inside (something bulky) before opening it. Inside were a new pair of boots and a jar of polish for his swords. Cloud looked down at the boots he was wearing: scuffed up old things that had been through more mud in a week than most boots do in a year. He'd break the new shoes in when he got back to Edge. Or maybe around the cargo ship. Why not? It's not like he was going anywhere in a hurry for a while. He swapped his shoes and wriggled his toes in their new house before leaving his room to walk around outside. He was less likely to feel sick if he stayed outside. The ship lurched to a start and Cloud wobbled unsteadily. He pocketed the rest of his pills and went outside. There have got to be some pills or something that worked for more than an hour or two.

Once on the top deck, Cloud went to the rear of the ship and sat in an available chair to watch the receding coast of Junon, the wake the boat was leaving behind, and people. Despite common belief, Cloud didn't actually dislike people, he just preferred to keep them at arm's length if they were strangers. People normally ignored Cloud, as well, so that only made his life simpler.

After a while of watching the wake, Cloud glanced around the ship. A familiar figure caught his eye and the blond straightened to get a better look. There on the railing was a Cait Sith doll staring at the water. God, how many of these things did Reeve scatter?

Cloud walked over and leaned against the railing next to Cait.

"Cloud! Long time no see!" the cat hopped down from the railing onto his moogle counterpart.

"Hi, Cait," Cloud responded, "What are you doing out here?"

"There's just something on the ship I have to keep an eye on," Cait shrugged, that ever-present smile still on his face.

Cloud raised an eyebrow, "Anything I should know about?"

"Only if it gets loose, which shouldn't happen. But I'm not going to say anything else because I'l jinx it. You know how these things work! As soon as you say 'It'll never happen,' BANG! It happens!" Cait Sith laughed and bounced on the moogle.

"Anything remotely related to Hojo?"

"Oh, come on, Cloud! You're one of the only, if not the only, experiments of Hojo's left!"

Cloud's features darkened.

The cat covered its mouth and muttered an apology.

Cloud was already gone.

"Oi, what a mouth I've got on me," Cait sighed and shook its head, "Sorry, Cloud."

Sometime later, when the day was about done, Cloud was staring once again out to sea. There wasn't much else to do.

_I'm still considered an experiment._

Cloud scowled and walked to the prow of the ship and leaned against the railing. He wasn't particularly fond of the sea. It made him think too much whenever he wasn't immobilized by an upset body. Cloud checked his watch. He'd need to take another pill in about a half hour. Nights were the worst.

…

_I'm not someone's science fair project._

He clenched the rail.

"Hey, Cloud."

Cloud paid Cait Sith no attention and started walking away. Undisturbed, the cat followed him.

"Leave me alone," the blond tossed over his shoulder.

"Not until you accept my apology."

Cloud shot a glare at Cait.

"I know what I said was uncalled for, and I apologized, Cloud. What else can I do? I can't rewind clocks," the robot said with a shrug.

"Leave me alone."

"Oh, come on! You can't stay mad for the whole trip!"

"…Try me," Cloud began walking towards his room. Cramped or not, it was away from Cait Sith.

Cloud downed a pill and kicked his shoes off. His feet were a bit pink on the heel. He rubbed his foot. He changed and got into the small bed; he was nearly asleep when someone knocked at his door.

"Go away, Cait. I'm trying to sleep."

The persistent knocking didn't cease.

Cloud sighed and scowled before getting up to open the door, "Don't you ever sleep, Reeve?"

"Here," the cat tapped his moogle's head, which in turn offered something to Cloud.

He raised an eyebrow before taking the small box.

"Just open it," Cait Sith ordered.

Cloud leaned against the doorframe and opened the box. Inside was a replacement phone, much nicer than his last, but still simple in design. He turned it over in his hand, "…Thanks."

"It's already got everyone's numbers in it. So you don't have to ask awkward questions."

"Awkward?"

"Do you know Tifa and the Seventh Heaven's numbers by heart?"

"Yes."

"Oh, well then I saved you the grief of asking Barret for his number. You haven't memorized _his_ number have you?"

"No."

"You have no idea how much trouble to get Yuffie, Cid, and Vincent's numbers," the robot said, fishing for a 'Thank you'.

"Yuffie probably threatened to do something awful to you if you didn't put her number in. Cid and was an employee of Shinra and you probably just found his number in a computer. I didn't know Vincent had a phone."

"He got one a bit after that mess with Kadaj. And, actually Yuffie saw your new phone as a chance to make you some prank calls. She'll be furious when she finds out you have her number."

"Hm."

"Well? Am I forgiven?"

"Fine. Thanks. I'm going to sleep now," Cloud closed the door.

A cheerful 'Goodnight!' was called through the metal.


	8. Chapter 8

8

For the next few days, Tifa was gnawed at by Cloud's note. Upon reading it repeatedly and thinking about it whenever she wasn't busy (which she tried very hard to avoid), Tifa noticed more small details that made her wonder if Cloud was even the one who wrote the note. But then she thought about how Cloud had left without even a goodbye. Obviously something had happened to make him do that.

She passed food out to Marlene to take to the customers.

Amid the general business of the bar, the phone started ringing. Tifa finished a meal quickly and passed it to Marlene before leaving to answer it.

"Strife Delivery Service. You name, we deliver."

"Hi, Tifa."

"Cloud?! Is that you? Where are you calling from?"

"Reeve got me a cellphone as a birthday present."

"Ah, alright. What do you need?" Tifa leaned against the desk in Cloud's office.

There was a pause.

"Cloud?"

"Um…Did…you write me a note before I left?"

"You got one, too?" so someone did set this up. Tifa frowned. She had really been hoping that Cloud had given it to her himself.

"Too?" he asked, confused.

"I got a note right before you ran off on this delivery."

"What did it say?"

"Uh, you tell me first, since you brought it up."

Cloud hesitated. What if their notes said different things?

"Well, um…"

"Yes?"

"It had, uh, a, um…" Cloud ran his hand through his hair.

"Well spit it out, Cloud."

"A…statement of your feelings."

"…A confession?"

"Yes."

"About my feelings?"

"Yes," Cloud blushed. He was thankful for closed doors.

"And what were those confessed feelings?"

_Dammit, she's doing this on purpose._

"That…"

"That?"

Cloud mumbled.

"…I'm sorry, what?"

Cloud took a breath, "That you loved me."

Tifa blushed. So she was right.

"The note that was written for me said the same," Tifa started.

"The same?"

"That…that you loved me."

"…Oh."

There was an extremely awkward pause.

"So…" Tifa tucked her hair behind an ear, "Where are you now?"

"Still on my way to the port in Costa del Sol. I should arrive in a day or two."

"How are you holding up?"

"Ugh, I always feel like a drug addict when I have to get on boats. My pills will only last for another trip or two, then I'll be sick as a dog," Cloud sighed.

Tifa laughed a bit, "Do you want me to get some more for you?"

"Don't laugh at me. And please do. Can you try and find some that last longer?"

"Sure. Well I'm getting a bit behind in the kitchen. I'll have to let you go. I'm glad you called, Cloud."

"Uh huh, sure. Thank you."

"For what?"

The line was already dropped. Tifa sighed and hung up the phone before going back to the kitchen to catch up.

Once docked in Costa del Sol, Cloud waited a couple of hours for boat protocol to release him from his floating prison, then got Fenrir and left for his delivery in Costa del Sol. After he finished there, he'd go to North Corel.

Cloud was about halfway to North Corel when he encountered a particularly nasty monster that induced particularly nasty status effects. Being out of Remedies or most any other essential items, Cloud rushed to North Corel, avoiding contact with any other monsters.

Cloud rolled into North Corel and nearly fell out of his seat. He would have were it not for the memory that Geostigma had been much more paralyzing, and he had fought off three Reunion criers while sick with that. Cloud stumbled to a nearby crate with a seller behind it, hoping that they had Remedies. Or a lot of minor status fixers.

"Remedy," Cloud croaked.

"1500 gil."

Cloud scowled, but put the money on the box. He didn't have time to barter. Damn overpricing cheapskates.

"Thank you for your business," the vendor took the money and reached under his box to grab a Remedy for Cloud. Cloud took it and drank, relief hitting him as numerous toxins were wiped from his bloodstream. He gave the vendor one final look before leaving to get his delivery from his bike. He looked around him. The ramshackle village seemed to be doing only a bit better off since the switch from Mako to Oil.

He went to the Inn up the slope. It looked much less likely to fall over in a puff of wind than the last time Cloud had seen it.

On his way up, Cloud saw a kid trying to lift filth out of the dried up well the town refused to knock down.

"Hey, that thing's been useless for years. You should get water somewhere else."

"I can't. It's too far, and Dad's sick," the kid looked maybe a bit younger than Marlene, but it was hard to tell: the kid was skin and bone, and small for whatever age he was.

Cloud did a mental recap on the materia he had on him. Maybe Esuna would clear the water.

Dang it! Cloud had totally forgotten that he had an Esuna materia! There went 1500 gil down the drain for no reason!

He walked over to the kid and frowned at the murky water and mud in the bucket, "Can I try something?"

"What is it?"

"Magic."

The kid's eyes widened. Cloud saw a bit of a glint in them, "Do you have materia? What kinds?"

"Lots, but they're mine so don't think about stealing them," Cloud took the bucket and cast Esuna, hoping that his idea was a good one. To his pleasure, the water was cleansed of most of the dirt. He cast it again to get the water totally clean.

The kid stared at the clean water, "Thank you, mister."

Cloud nodded and went the rest of the way to the Inn.

"I have a package for Mr. Gotro."

"Ah, there you are. Good, good, just set it on a bed," Mr. Gotro said, "The one from Junon, yes?"

"That's the one," Cloud handed Mr. Gotro a small clipboard, "Sign here."

"Uh huh," Mr. Gotro signed, "And, actually, if you don't mind, I'd like you to bring something to old Corel. For an old acquaintance of mine."

Cloud frowned, "I hope you realize how hard it is to get to Corel. This would be an expensive delivery."

"I realize. Do you by any chance have a Gold Ticket for the Gold Saucer? You could use that as a shortcut."

"Yes I have a Gold Ticket, but I can't just leave my bike here for a week," Cloud replied, folding his arms across his chest, "Who is this acquaintance of yours? I doubt you're the one paying me for this."

"He told me not to say. He only asked me to request the delivery yesterday."

"…Fine. Do you have the delivery item?"

"Yes," Mr. Gotro reached behind his desk and handed Cloud a somewhat long, thin box.

"Is there a specific time this needs to be delivered?"

"My acquaintance said as soon as possible.

Cloud sighed, thinking of the apology messages he would have to make for delayed deliveries. Thankfully, nothing was on a schedule this time. Cloud took the box and went outside.

When he stepped out, he saw that tiny kid sitting on his bike. He'd better not be messing with anything. Cloud picked up his pace a bit. When he got closer, he heard the kid making engine sounds and noticed him pretending to steer. Cloud laughed a bit. Kids. He'd caught Denzel doing the same thing.

"Vroom! Vroom! Hey, watch it! Reeeeeao, Reeeeao!"

"Having fun?"

The kid froze, "I wasn't messing-"

"I know."

The kid stared at the ground, "Sorry."

Cloud shrugged, "You're fine…" Cloud went up to the bike and the kid hopped off, "No, get back on. I'll let you ride it up to your house."

The kid's eyes nearly fell out of his face, "Really?!"

"Sure," Cloud waited for the kid to get back on and started the engine from next to the bike, "Don't push any buttons," Cloud slipped the kid's fingers under the gas and break handles.

The kid was beaming from ear to ear, "This is awesome!"

Cloud smiled and gave Fenrir a bit of gas, then walked next to it going up the slope and kept it steady, "Which house is yours?"

"The one on the left."

Cloud walked over and parked Fenrir in front of the house. From inside, cloud heard a yell of "What's going on out there? Skye?"

"That your dad?" Cloud put Fenrir in park.

"Uh huh," the kid hopped off the bike and started inside, "Thank you again, mister."

"Sure…" Cloud searched his pockets for something, "Hey…Skye, was it?"

"Yeah?"

"Here," Cloud tossed his Esuna materia to Skye, "I've used it a lot, so it's really powerful. It might be able to fix your dad up. You can get clean water, too. Just don't use it too much or it'll wear you out."

Skye stared at Cloud, "But-"

"Take it."

Skye's father came to the doorframe. He had the body of a worker, but that wasn't enough to hide to sickness in his eyes or the slump in his body.

Cloud looked at him, "Do you know how to use materia?"

"A bit, yeah. Why?"

Skye showed his father the Esuna materia. Cloud mounted Fenrir and started out of town.

"Thank you!" Skye called.

Cloud stopped by the vendor from before and got a fair price for a bagful of remedies.

After being saved by that strange Chocobo carriage twice, Cloud finally found the Gold Saucer and Corel. He put the last of his gasoline in Fenrir and hid the bike away from the thieving gazes of those around. While here, Cloud would keep an eye out for the crooks that made off with a pair of Tifa's gloves and a gun of Barret's. Even if the weapons had already been sold for dirty money (which was more than likely), Cloud could still beat the stuffing out of the thieves.

Unsure of who to go to, Cloud went to that old train car to talk to Mr. Coates. Cloud was eyed by the guards, but was granted entry. Cloud wasn't easily forgotten. Blame the hair and eyes. Mostly the hair.

"Coates, I have a question," Cloud stated upon entry.

"Eh? Aren't you that guy who went up to the races in no time flat and won on his first day?"

"Yeah. Do you know who this goes to? I have a package."

"Ah, I might have heard something."

"…Well?"

"I'm not entirely sure. My memory needs a bit of jogging."

"Don't mess with me, I haven't got the time to wave money in your face. Just tell me where this goes."

"Now, that's no way to treat an old friend. Why, if it weren't for me, you'd probably still be stuck down here."

"That's a lie. If I stayed down here, there would be no here to be stuck in."

Mr. Coates gaped. He tried to think of a clever comeback, but none came. Mr. Coates sighed, "It goes to where Boss used to be. You know where that is. Take the box and put the contents where Boss died."

Cloud nodded and left. That explained who Cloud's mystery customer was.

Cloud got off of Fenrir and looked around. The place was just as much a junk heap as the first time he had seen it.

"Yo, Spike. You made it. You got the package?" Barret stepped off of a boulder and walked toward Cloud.

"Yeah," Cloud offered the box to Barret, "Didn't expect you to be here personally, though."

Barret shrugged and took the box before opening it. Inside were some (wilting) flowers and a current picture of Marlene.

"Wanted him to see what she looked like now, at least. Wasn't able to before…"

Cloud shifted awkwardly, unsure of what to do in a situation like this.

"You can go, Spike. I'd…like to say some real goodbyes."

"Right," Cloud turned halfway, then hesitated. He turned back around and gave Barret a pat on the shoulder before leaving, "Don't cry too much," Cloud joked.

"Like hell I will, dumbass! Now get out of here!" Barret laughed a bit too loudly and walked toward Dyne's dying place.


	9. Chapter 9

Sorry, but this chapter had to be kinda short, or it would have ended up really long. This is mostly setting stuff up for later, so please don't get mad at me! Hugs and Kisses!

* * *

9

"Shit!" Cloud had been on his way back to Costa del Sol when he remembered that he forgot something very, very important at the house. Yuffie's present! Oh, please let Tifa have destroyed that God forsaken thing!

Cloud sped ahead to del Sol at highly illegal speeds. If he rushed, he might be able to make an earlier departing ship, and those couple of hours could make the difference between humiliation and saving face. He was going to kill Yuffie! His phone lit up. He'll call back later.

Once on the cargo ship, Cloud checked his phone to see that Tifa and Yuffie had both called him several times. When had Tifa called? Oops. Cloud called her back.

"What's taking so long? Are you okay?"

Cloud blinked, "Hello to you, too."

"Sorry, but nothing bad happened, right? I'm getting calls from some of your regulars. They said that you told them you'd be delayed."

"Oh, sorry, I thought I called you," Cloud must've fallen asleep between calls on the night of many calls.

"No, you didn't, but what happened?"

"Barret asked me to deliver something to Corel. You remember Dyne?"

"Marlene's father?"

"Yes, Barret had me bring some stuff to where he died."

"Oh, I see. Is Barret okay?"

"Are you kidding? You could throw a Behemoth at that guy and he'd get off with only a bump on the head and a scratch on the wrist."

"You know I meant if he was upset," Cloud could practically see Tifa's hand on her hip as she sighed.

"Well…yeah he was upset. But my point was that he's tough. He'll be fine," Cloud fiddled with a strand of his hair.

"Okay. So, where are you now?"

"On the cargo ship on my way back to Junon," Cloud ran his hand through his hair, "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure, what is it?"

"Did you take care of my birthday present from Yuffie? I forgot it under the sofa."

"Yes, I took care of it."

"No one saw it?"

"No one."

"No one will see it?"

"No one."

"And the wig?"

"Ashes."

"Good."

Tifa giggled, "But you know, you really were a very pretty girl," she tossed in.

"Goodbye, Tifa."

She laughed one more, "Bye, Cloud. See you when you get home."

_I really mess with my hair a lot._

Cloud had been thinking about general things he had to take care of to stay on top of life and had once again found his hand in his hair. He twirled the spike in his fingers before relaxing his arm to fall back next to him on the bed. How much longer until the ship reached Junon? Cloud's stomach rumbled, wanting food and meds. The blond groaned and rolled over onto his front, not wanting to get out of bed. There was a rumble outside and the ship rocked a bit.

_Oh, God no. Please no bad weather._

Cloud got out of bed, popped a pill, and went outside. The air was clear. Confused, Cloud started wandering around the deck, looking for the disturbance. He hadn't been the only one to notice that something had happened; other people were wandering around with a mild curiosity in their eyes.

Another rumble. Another rock. Sounded like it was coming from below deck. Cloud raised an eyebrow, wondering if another of the things that Cait Sith had been watching was on the ship. Interested and prepared to possibly fight something nasty, Cloud got his sword from his room and went below deck to find the cargo area or wherever the disturbance was coming from.

Tifa went out for a bit after finishing up with the last few customers for the day and checking on the sleeping forms of Marlene and Denzel; it was late, sure, but the smallish dark-haired girl wanted some air and was pretty sure she could take care of herself if someone decided to get frisky.

As she walked and watched, Tifa noted with a smile the lack of homeless in the streets. Not to say that there weren't any, but their numbers had greatly diminished with the eradication of the Geostigma. Passing a huddled, aging woman sitting against a building in rags, Tifa gave her a handful of coins.

"God Bless you, dear," the woman said, shifting to pick up the coins at her side. That's when Tifa noticed the thickly blanketed bundle in the woman's arms.

"Ma'am? Is that your…would you like some food?"

"My grandson," the woman replied, "He's too young for real food yet, but thank you."

Tifa couldn't help but wonder what happened to the child's mother. Obviously someone had been an early parent.

"I have milk at my house, if he'd be okay with that?"

"You have a young one of your own?"

"Oh, heavens no!" Tifa laughed, waving her hands in front of her, "It's Dual Horn milk; and you and your grandson are welcome to come with me if you'd like."

"I would love that, dear. Thank you."

Tifa helped the woman to her feet and glimpsed at the thin, quiet baby in her arms.

On their way back to the bar, Tifa stopped by the store to get a bottle, slightly embarrassed that more people would think her a mother now, even when she wasn't in a relationship. Once back at the bar, Tifa got some milk from the back to begin heating it and some food on the stove. Once the bottle was at body temperature, Tifa shook it and gave it to the woman, who promptly coaxed it into the baby's mouth, suddenly awake at the smell of food. Tifa watched the child suck hungrily at the bottle and smiled, "Should I prepare more milk for him?"

"Oh, I wouldn't want to impose. You've done so much already," The woman replied with a frown of worry, "I really am very embarrassed."

"Oh, don't be; I'm the one who offered."

"Yes, but still…you have no idea how horrible it is not to be able to take care of yourself, let alone another living being."

Tifa frowned, feeling sympathy for the grandmother across from her, when she had an idea.

"Well, what if you earned your food? I've been needing to hire someone for some time, now. The bar is getting too popular for me to run just by myself. We don't have room for you to stay here permanently, but…"

"Oh, no, no! I couldn't!" the woman yelped, startling the bottle out of the baby's mouth. He promptly started crying and his grandmother put the near-finished bottle back in his mouth.

"Well, why not?" Tifa replied.

"I just-…It's that…Just no…"

"Ma'am, with all sincerity intended, your grandson will die if you don't find a way to feed him regularly. I'm giving you the chance to save him."

The woman looked down at her grandson, hugged him into her.

"Ma'am?"

"I…"

"I'll go check on your food while you think on it."

Why, oh, why, did things like this _always_ happen?!

Cloud sprinted down a corridor as a mess of Stingers, Stilvas, and Valrons, aided by an old, revamped, Shinra Gunner chased him down, assailants ignoring most other passerby in the determined pursuit of their target. As much as Cloud wanted to, he couldn't engage his entourage at the moment for fear of injuring innocents; he would have to get to the upper decks before stopping his groupies.

Once to the stern of the ship, Cloud got a split-second idea and kept running towards the boat's railing. With luck it would hold. As he neared the edge, Cloud jumped forward, feet first, intending to use the rebound to get behind his attackers and possibly send them overboard. Luckily, despite bending heavily, the bar held and Cloud ended up behind the enemies after him and disposing of those which didn't fall off the ship in a matter of minutes.

Once finished, Cloud heard a muffled clapping. He turned and glared at a Cait Sith doll.

"What the hell were you doing leaving that cage with such a weak lock?" the blond growled.

"Aw, c'mon! It was just a bit of fun, Cloudie!" the cat laughed, still applauding, "That was quite impressive a show you gave!"

"Show? You endangered the lives of everyone on board for your own entertainment?"

"No! Of course not, Cloudie! ("Don't call me that.") I had just overestimated the strength of that lock is all!" Cait said, smile still plastered.

"That's worse. What if i hadn't been here?"

"Well, no one got hurt, did they?" the cat dodged, "Nope! So no harm, no foul, the way I see it!"

Cloud frowned and was about to reply when his stomach growled. He left to get food.

"Alright, Cloudie-boy! Be good now! And try not to break any more railings!"

Why was it that any time Cait Sith was around, Cloud got a headache?


End file.
